I came across this old woodcut sketch:
http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/print/exhibits/drydrunk/horse.htm
Why would anyone want to do this?
The methane from the horses farts filters through the tobacco and gives it a unique flavour.
Proof that there is a Tom Green in every time and place.
I’m guessing, see as this is a veterinary manual, that the tobacco/nicotine was being used for some medical
purpose. Possibly for worming it, or some other mysterious horse ailment.
Anal cancer, perhaps?
To be enjoyed with a cup of kopi luwak, no doubt.
Actually, if you follow the link at the bottom to the collection that the woodcut is from, it has this to say:
yabob has it right. This as called “brning the mare’s fart”, and was done as a sort of remedy.
I know about this, because I read of it in a book called Witchcraft in Salem by Chadwick Hansen. An excellent ittle bit of renovated history, with odd little tidbits like this one included.
Um.
okay.
That’s just odd.